The mission of the Forensic Anthropology Center is to achieve excellence in research, training, and service in forensic anthropology and closely-related fields.1
The mission is pursued in part by actively engaging scientists, institutions and agencies in research and training for students and professionals worldwide. Additionally, we serve the community via our body donation program, consultations to the medico-legal community, and outreach to promote science and disseminate our research results.
For over three decades the FAC has garnered an international reputation for research on human decomposition and modern human variation. At the core of our program is the dynamic body donation program that currently comprises almost two thousand individuals in the UTK Donated Skeletal Collection and over 4000 registered future donors (pre-donors). The Body Farm, or Anthropology Research Facility (ARF), and UTK Donated Skeletal Collection are utilized year-round for research and training by University of Tennessee faculty and students as well as by students and professionals from around the world.
1Refer to the American Board of Forensic Anthropology for the definition of forensic anthropology.